Psychological Causes of Depression

Question 1

What are 3 psychological explanations of depression?

Answer 1

1. Psychodynamic theory.
2. Cognitive causes.
3. Sociocultural explanations.

Question 2

What did Freud describe depression as?

Answer 2

An “excessive and irrational grief” as a reaction to loss. This loss could be real or imagined loss of affection from the parent that the person was most dependent on.

Question 3

What did Freud suggest as the cause of depression?

Answer 3

The individual identifies with the loss, so that repressed anger towards them is directed inwards to themselves, reducing their self-esteem making them vulnerable to depression in the future.
Actual loss or symbolic loss leads a person to re-experience parts of their childhood when they experienced loss of affection.
The greater the experience of loss as a child, the greater the regression as an adult.

Question 4

Freud also suggested that depression could be due to oral fixation. What did he mean by this?

Answer 4

A depressive phase also occurs when someone’s super-ego or conscience is dominant causing excessive anxiety = depression.

Question 5

What did Waller et al find, supporting Freud’s psychodyamic explanation of depression?

Answer 5

Men who had lost their fathers during childhood scored higher on a depression scale than those with fathers who had not died.

Question 6

What did Bifulco find, supporting Freud’s psychodynamic explanation of depression?

Answer 6

Children whose mothers died during childhood were more likely to experience depression later in life.

Question 7

What did Cooper et al find, contradicting Freud’s psychodynamic explanation of depression?

Answer 7

Loss probably only explains a small percentage - around only 10% of those who experience early loss later become depressed.

Question 8

What are 5 criticisms of Freud’s psychodynamic explanation of depression? (1 methodological, 1 issue/debate, 3 general).

Answer 8

1. Not everyone who experiences loss becomes depressed and not everyone who becomes depressed experienced a loss - argument is limited.
2. Psychoanalysis has not proved to be very effective - suggests that depression may not always have a psychological cause.
3. Deterministic - suggests it’s predetermined through childhood - some people’s depression may be caused by adult experiences of biological reasons.
4. Simplistic - fails to consider other reasons e.g. biological causes.
5. Can’t test scientifically - focuses on the unconscious.

Question 9

What is the cognitive explanation that Beck introduced?

Answer 9

Depression is the result of ‘cognitive errors’ e.g. negative thinking and catastrophising.

Question 10

What are the 3 components of depression, known as the cognitive triad that Beck introduced?

Answer 10

Negative thoughts about:

1. The self
2. The world/environment
3. The future

Question 11

In addition to the cognitive triad, Beck also believed that depression prone individuals develop a negative self schema. What is this?

Answer 11

A set of beliefs and expectations about themselves that are negative and pessimistic. They may be acquired during childhood as a result of a traumatic event, e.g. death of a parent/sibling, bullying, or parental criticism/neglect/abuse.

Question 12

Beck also introduced cognitive distortions, what are these?

Answer 12

Logical errors in their thinking and selectively focusing on certain aspects of a situation while ignoring equally relevant information. People with negative self-schemas are prone to these.

Question 13

What are 2 examples of cognitive distortions?

Answer 13

1. Overgeneralisation - making a sweeping conclusion on the basis of a single event.
2. Personalisation - attributing the negative feelings of others to yourself.

Question 14

What study did Butler and Beck carry out into cognitive explanations of depression that supported Beck? (Method, findings).

Answer 14

Reviewed 14 meta-analyses investigating the effectiveness of Beck’s cognitive therapy.
Found - 80% of adults benefited from it. It was also more successful than drug therapy, and had a lower relapse rate.

Question 15

What study did Lewisohn carry out into cognitive explanations of depression that contradicted Beck? (Method, findings, suggests?).

Answer 15

Studied p’s before they became depressed.
Found - those who later became depressed were no more likely to have negative thoughts than those who didn’t develop depression.
Suggests - faulty thinking may not be the only problem.

Question 16

Who introduced learned helplessness as a cognitive explanation of depression and what is it?

Answer 16

Seligman
Depression can be learned when a person tries and fails to control unpleasant experiences. Depressed people are also more pessimistic and hold themselves responsible for negative events.

Question 17

What do sociocultural explanations of depression suggest?

Answer 17

Life events mat act as a trigger in individuals who have a genetic predisposition for depression.

Question 18

What did Kendler find, relating to sociocultural explanations of depression suggest?

Answer 18

The most depressed women were those who had experienced life events and had a genetic predisposition for depression.

Question 19

What study did Brown and Harris carry out, that supported sociocultural explanations of depression?

Answer 19

Studied depressed women in London.
Found - depression was often preceded by a major life event.
1. Small sample - can’t gen - low pop and ext val.
2. Gender - beta - bias - can’t gen - low ext val.

Question 20

What has research also shown about depressed people and social support?

Answer 20

Those who are depressed are more likely to have few friends and little social support - no support system.

Question 21

What did Joiner et al find about the body language of those with depression, relating to sociocultural explanations of depression

Answer 21

Depressed people typically show negative body language which often causes others to reject them. This makes them less able to cope with stress and life events possible resulting in depression.

Question 22

What are 2 criticisms of the sociocultural explanation of depression?

Answer 22

1. Simplistic - can’t explain why not everyone who suffers major life events becomes depressed and why not everyone who becomes depressed has suffered major life events.
2. Life events are subjective - some people find things more/less stressful than others, e.g. divorce.

Question 23

What model may be the most appropriate to explain depression?

Answer 23

The diathesis-stress model - it considers both biological and psychological causes of depression.